Walk & not grow weary, run & not faint...

Whenever I go to Freetown, I feel like time is passing by at an incredible rate...maybe because everything is so hectic in Freetown, maybe because the journey back to Kabala is so long, or maybe because I always feel so at home when I'm with my friends in Freetown that I never want to leave. Last week Wednesday, I travelled down to Freetown with Adrienne (A Canadian who has been working in Kabala as a nurse for the past 10 months) and her soon-to be daughter Mariama. Just to give you a little background on that story, Adrienne is the wife of my former high school teacher, Joe Melissen, and they have both been working in Kabala since July of last year. About 3 months ago, they made the decision to try and adopt a baby girl from here named Mariama Conteh. This girl's mom died when she was about 2 months old, and Adrienne helped nurse her back to health and became really close to her and to her existing family. Long story short, Adrienne and Joe have been working really hard the last 3 months to try and get papers, lawyers, court dates, and everything else in place so that they can adopt Mariama.

Adrienne and I went down to Freetown on the bus with Mariama Wednesday morning -and believe me, being on the bus with a 11 month old baby is quite interesting here, between the chickens pecking at your feet and the bumpy roads that nearly bounce the baby off your lap- to try and meet with her lawyer. Needless to say, their lawyer is not the most friendly person in the world...he made us wait for 2 hours before telling us that the papers 'weren't ready to be signed. Come back tomorrow.' Long story short, that same thing happened about three or four times, before the lawyer FINALLY showed up on Monday and they went to court...so Mariama is now legally theirs in Salone at least, but the Canada paperwork still needs to get all sorted out. The whole situation was a real reminder that patience is so neccessary here...things you expect to finish quickly rarely ever do. Please pray for favor for Joe and Adrienne in this adoption, so that everything could get finished quickly in time for them to head back to Canada.

I returned back to Kabala late on Monday night, and started my work again here on Tuesday morning. This whole week has been a real blessing...I find the more I do God's work, the more physically tired I get...but the more my heart and my spirit become rejuvenated. That's why I chose to title my blog with this verse in Isaiah, Isaiah 40:31. "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." What an encouragement when you find yourself growing tired! God has promised he will restore our strength...all we have to do is put our faith and our hope in him.

I've had a cold almost all week, and so my voice has been 'small-small' as they say in krio...meaning that it's hard to talk (combine a sore throat with teaching at a primary school everyday, and you'll understand why my voice was lost!). However, it's coming back slowly but surely, which is a wonderful thing. I've been continuing to do my prison ministry this week, going there almost every day to greet the prisoners, pray with them, and do a short bible study. This is some of the most encouraging and fulfilling work I've done here yet. I've never encountered people who have been so grateful for so small a sacrifice...it's really quite humbling, especially when these prisoners are able to encourage me! So many times we've been having a bible study and they will speak up with an insight or a hopeful word that I never would have thought of. It's a continuous reminder that God's family is wider than we will ever know.

I also got the amazing oppurtunity to meet with Dr. Joanna Kuyvenhoven this week, a professor who is teaching at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. I've heard a lot about her involvement in Salone (helping start up CRC, helping start up CES, she lived here for 5 years as a missionary) through my friends here and through my old school back in Canada, but never had the oppurtunity to meet her. She is such an amazing woman of God, and truly an inspiration for where I want to be in about 30 years from now. She feels the same way I do about teaching...it's really her passion and her calling, and it's so amazing to see what God has done through her. Despite all the incredible things she has done for this country, what is the most amazing about her is how genuine and real she is...she wants these kids in Kabala to succeed more than anything in the world, and she really believes in the power of education. She's got me doing some testing for the CRC school which will start next week...trying to determine the kid's learning levels compared with other schools in Kabala. This week has been an encouragement for me in terms of the hope education is bringing to this country. They like to say here that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for one day...but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for his lifetime. Education is really the only way out of poverty, and truly the only way for this country to rebuild.

The last amazing experience I had this week was with the Kabala youth group. I started leading a bible study for them about purity and integrity, and we had our first meeting yesterday. It was really incredible...I preached on Galatians 5:16-21, and really encouraged the youth to not only be pure and practice abstinence, but to recognize how VALUABLE they are as children of God...and not let anyone spoil the plans God has for them. It was so encouraging to see the youth discussing this and really listening. Since I got here, God has really put a call on my heart for the youth of this town. Like everywhere in the world, Kabala is a town that is filled with infidelity and sexual immorality...but unfortunately this is especially true among the youth. Girls are having sex when they are as young as 12 or 13 because a man 'promises' that he will marry them...and then leaves them as soon as they get pregnant. And imagine trying to learn in a classroom of 100 people, in 40 degree weather, with a 3 week old baby on your back...it's nearly impossible. I really believe that if even one youth group in this town lived out lives full of integrity and purity, they could change their future, their town's future, their country's future. It breaks my heart to see beautiful young men and women giving themselves away because they think they aren't good enough. These youth are sons and daughters of the KING, our LORD...they are MORE than good enough! Imagine the difference it would make if youth respected themselves and valued themselves enough to WAIT until God brought them their husband or wife...imagine the difference it would make if youth walked through this town KNOWING that they deserved ALL the promises in God's word, so they didn't compromise for anyone. I can't even begin to describe how much my heart is yearning for that to happen for the youth of this country.
Here's a little bit of what I said yesterday.

If someone tells you you're not good enough unless you sleep with them, or you're nothing when you're alone, here's what you tell them. I am NOT alone. I am walking with my best friend, the lover of my soul, my confidant, and my encourager. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He won't get me pregnant and then run off to the villiage. He won't forget my name. He knew me before I was born...so unless you're willing to get by him first, you certainly aren't getting through to me. His name is Jesus Christ, and he's my everything.

Let's pray for the youth of Salone to value themselves, to respect themselves, and to wait for God's promises to be fufilled in their life. If the youth of this country pursued a high standard of integrity, they could turn this whole country around.

Lots of love from Kabala,

Krissi